Jay Rayner on restaurants + Seafood | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/jayrayner+seafood
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The Sichuan, London: restaurant reviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/08/the-sichuan-london-restaurant-review
<p>The special fish dish at the Sichuan is a masterpiece. But beware, says Jay, it’s not for those who are shy of chilli</p><p><strong>The Sichuan, 14 City Road, London EC1Y 2AA (020 7588 5489). Meal for two, including drinks and service: £75</strong></p><p>Some communal restaurant dishes are more communal than others. Most of the time we thrill to the novelty of something served as it would be at home – oh look! A chicken! – take our share, and then retreat back to that emotional place labelled “mine!”<br></p><p>This isn’t a dish you eat so much as explore. It’s an edible rock pool. It’s a&nbsp;moment…</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/08/the-sichuan-london-restaurant-review">Continue reading...</a>Chinese food and drinkSeafoodFishFood & drinkRestaurantsRestaurantsLife and styleTravelLondonSun, 08 May 2016 05:00:13 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/08/the-sichuan-london-restaurant-reviewPhotograph: Katherine Anne Rose for the ObserverPhotograph: Katherine Anne Rose for the ObserverJay Rayner2016-05-08T05:00:13ZBubba Gump Shrimp Co: restaurant review | Jay Raynerhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/05/restaurant-review-bubba-gump-shrimp-co-jay-rayner
<p>The Bubba Gump Shrimp Co was always going to be an easy target. So why did Jay decide to show it some mercy?</p><p><br>At the top of the stairs up to the <a href="http://bubbagumpshrimp.co.uk/">Bubba Gump Shrimp Co</a> by London’s Piccadilly is a sign. It reads: “Stupid is as stupid does”. Perhaps I should embrace this as a gift from the god of restaurant critics: here, my child, take this slogan that they have nailed to the wall for you and riff on it. Tempting though it is, I think dismissing an operation like this as stupid – even if stupid is part of its skill set – would be a waste of everybody’s time. Why bother going if it was simply to confirm a few prejudices?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/05/restaurant-review-bubba-gump-shrimp-co-jay-rayner">Continue reading...</a>Food & drinkSeafoodRestaurantsRestaurantsLife and styleTravelSun, 05 Apr 2015 04:59:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/05/restaurant-review-bubba-gump-shrimp-co-jay-raynerPhotograph: Sophia Evans/ObserverHook, line and sinker: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co's huge and bright interior.
Photograph: Sophia Evans for the ObserverPhotograph: Sophia Evans/ObserverHook, line and sinker: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co's huge and bright interior.
Photograph: Sophia Evans for the ObserverJay Rayner2015-04-05T04:59:06ZRex and Mariano: restaurant review | Jay Raynerhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/01/rex-and-mariano-restaurant-review-jay-rayner
<p>Rex and Mariano know a lot about fish. Which is very good news for anybody who likes to get their hands on lunch<br></p><p><strong>2 St Anne’s Court, London W1 (020 7437 0566). Meal for two, including wine and service: £80</strong></p><p>This week’s restaurant comes from the people who brought us Beast. You remember <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/oct/19/beast-restaurant-review-jay-rayner">Beast</a>. The one with the king crabs and the Nebraskan steaks and the over-engineered tables and the bill that made me feel like my scrotum had been put in an un-lubricated vice. So now you’re salivating – not at the thought of the food, but at the prospect of some brutal knob-gag-strewn take-down. Well, put your tongue away. Wipe your mouth on a napkin. Sit back and take note.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/01/rex-and-mariano-restaurant-review-jay-rayner">Continue reading...</a>FishSeafoodFood & drinkRestaurantsRestaurantsLife and styleTravelSun, 01 Feb 2015 06:00:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/01/rex-and-mariano-restaurant-review-jay-raynerPhotograph: Sophia Evans/ObserverFishy tales: the white-tiled restaurant. Photograph: Sophia Evans for the ObserverPhotograph: Sophia Evans/ObserverFishy tales: the white-tiled restaurant. Photograph: Sophia Evans for the ObserverJay Rayner2015-02-01T06:00:05ZBonnie Gull Seafood Café: restaurant reviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/25/bonnie-gull-seafood-cafe-restaurant-review
Great ingredients, simple setting, a&nbsp;seaside-holiday atmosphere. What could go wrong? Plenty, actually<p><strong>55-57 Exmouth Market, London EC1 (020 3122 0047). Meal for two, including drinks and service, £90</strong></p><p>It started with a phone call. Perhaps it should have stopped there…<br>Me: "I'd like to book a table."<br>Her: "Ehm… the system's down. Could you call back tomorrow?"<br>Me: "I just want to book a table."<br>Her: "But the system…"<br>Me: "Couldn't you just write it down on a piece of paper?"<br>Her: "I might lose the piece of paper."<br>Me: "How about you write it down on a piece of paper. And don't lose it?"<br>Her: "Oh, hang on then. I'll… reboot the iPad."</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/25/bonnie-gull-seafood-cafe-restaurant-review">Continue reading...</a>SeafoodFood & drinkRestaurantsRestaurantsLife and styleTravelSun, 25 May 2014 06:30:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/25/bonnie-gull-seafood-cafe-restaurant-reviewPhotograph: Katherine Rose/ObserverShip shape: the nautical-themed dining room. Photograph: Katherine Rose for the ObserverPhotograph: Katherine Rose/ObserverShip shape: the nautical-themed dining room. Photograph: Katherine Rose for the ObserverJay Rayner2014-05-25T06:30:06ZRestaurant review: Loch Fyne Restaurant and Oyster Barhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/06/loch-fyne-restaurant-oyster-bar-argyll-jay-rayner
It could have been a perfect lunch at the end of a long morning, but Jay didn't find love in Loch Fyne's unique restaurant<p>Clachan, Cairndow, Argyll (01499 600 264). Meal for two, including drinks and service: £80-120</p><p>If there's one thing guaranteed to encourage an appetite it's wrestling with a live 6kg halibut, while standing in a boisterous wind off the Atlantic on one of those Scottish islands which serves as the last westerly rock before the Statue of Liberty, while not wearing quite enough clothes, because you're a southern git who doesn't understand what real weather is.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/06/loch-fyne-restaurant-oyster-bar-argyll-jay-rayner">Continue reading...</a>Food & drinkRestaurantsRestaurantsScotland holidaysSeafoodLife and styleTravelSun, 06 Apr 2014 06:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/apr/06/loch-fyne-restaurant-oyster-bar-argyll-jay-raynerPhotograph: Martin Hunter/ObserverA Fyne romance: fruits of the sea at Loch Fyne Oyster Bar. Photograph: Martin Hunter for the ObserverPhotograph: Martin Hunter/ObserverA Fyne romance: fruits of the sea at Loch Fyne Oyster Bar. Photograph: Martin Hunter for the ObserverJay Rayner2014-04-06T06:30:00ZOndine, Edinburgh: restaurant reviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/mar/17/ondine-edinburgh-restaurant-review
A mountain of seafood requires proper commitment – which isn't difficult when the food is as good as this<p>2 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh (0131 226 1888). Meal for two, including wine and service: £125</p><p>It is serious food which encourages me to get my kit off. The roast shellfish platter at <a href="http://www.ondinerestaurant.co.uk/" title="">Ondine</a> was just such a dish. As the glossy, butter-slicked heap of crimson shell and claw, pearly oyster, fat-lipped mussel and clams landed on the table I&nbsp;slipped off my jacket and rolled up my sleeves. It wasn't a conscious decision; my subconscious, the bit that wasn't dealing with my foetid midlife crisis, was in charge. This food was a two-handed job. I needed maximum flexibility. Plus, I'm a bloke who hasn't met a shirt he can't spill sauce down. If it's a really good meal I don't need to take a menu away for reference, I just read my shirt, from the bottom button up. I didn't want to get puddles of the marvellous, hot, parsley-green, dairy-rich dressing on my lovely new jacket.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/mar/17/ondine-edinburgh-restaurant-review">Continue reading...</a>SeafoodLife and styleFood & drinkRestaurantsRestaurantsTravelSun, 17 Mar 2013 07:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/mar/17/ondine-edinburgh-restaurant-reviewPhotograph: Murdo Macleod/ObserverEdinburgh’s rock: the cool decor of Ondine. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the ObserverPhotograph: Murdo Macleod/ObserverEdinburgh’s rock: the cool decor of Ondine. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the ObserverJay Rayner2013-03-17T07:30:01Z